Grow Through Suffering

A concise summary of Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 1 Chapter 8

Humans seek protection from suffering whereas devotees grow through suffering.

Sage Suta narrates the dialogs of Uttara and Queen Kunti with Lord Krishna to articulate the difference in their approach.

Uttara, the wife of Abhimanyu rushed to the Lord seeking his protection when she saw a fiery iron arrow (Brhamasiras) approaching her which was launched by Ashwathama. He was captured and then let go free by Arjuna earlier when he tried to kill him using a fiery fireball weapon. He killed the sons of Draupadi before and this time he wanted to kill the embryo in the womb of Uttara because he intended to destroy the progeny of Pandavas forever.

Lord Krishna who is the complete manifestation of the Super Soul (Paramatma) protected the embryo from the fiery iron arrow using his spiritual energy. Srila Vysadeva quotes in this instance that the Lord is unaffected by even the most powerful weapons like Brahmastra and Brahmasiras because his form is all spiritual.

When the Lord was about to leave the capital city to return to his kingdom, the devotee of the Lord, Queen Kunti tells how her suffering helped her grow. The difficulties in life gave her:

• An opportunity to constantly remember the Lord which put her on the path of detachment

• Freedom from the pride of noble birth, power, wealth, and knowledge

• A constant association with the Lord which put her on the way to liberation

• Chant the names of the Lord regularly with rapt attention

• Her mind constantly filled with the Lord’s activities and instructions

As a result, Queen Kunti never really internalized the suffering but rather attained God-realization. She experienced the comprehensive nature of the Lord and described it as follows:

• God can’t be realized by the false perception of an ignorant person as an actor in his role in the play is not recognized by an ignorant spectator

• God can’t be realized completely even by perfecting the Yogic process unless it is concomitant with devotion

• It is incomprehensible how the embodiment of the Universal Consciousness appears like a simple cow-herd boy

• God’s eternal form is always garlanded with lotus flowers and his grace is soothing

• God can easily be realized by those people who are not egoistic

• God is beginningless and endless, the controller of time and the controller of the Universe

• God is impartial to everyone

• God appears to take birth and he has no duties to perform; his incarnations and activities are only a play

• God is bound by the love of his devotees

• God-consciousness can shower anyone with wealth, minerals, grains, herbs, fruits, and rivers